BrickJournal #43 by TwoMorrows Publishing

The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 43 • January 2017

8.95

in the US

Building Games in Brick! Imagine Rigney talks about his Builds! Nick Jensen shows his Game Characters! LEGO Munchkin! Instructions and MORE! ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-072-4 ISBN-10: 1-60549-072-5 50895

9 781605 490724

We’re In Canada Too! St. John’s, NL

EVANSVILLE, IN Phoenix, AZ

Issue 43 • January 2017

Contents

From the Editor....................................................2

People Build Until it Hurts: Raising Imagine Rigney................................4 Instructions: Itty Bitty Songbird................12 Gamers and Building: A Conversation..............................................14 Gallery: Nick Jensen........................................18

Building Overwatch’s Winston......................................20 Building the Normandy................................23 Crafting the Original LEGO Minecraft Layout................................................................26 LEGO Minecraft Gallery.................................28 You Can Build It: Minecraft Creeper.........................................32 BrickNerd’s DIY: Zelda’s Master Sword..................................36 You Can Build It: Dagobah Swamp.........................................42 Minifigure Customization 101: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed!...............48

Community Kill the Monsters, Steal the Bricks!............54 RoboCupJunior Australia.............................59 Tiny LEGO Wonders: A Discussion with Mattia Zamboni......62 Brickfilmer Spotlight: Marc André Caron........................................66 Building the Samurai Code.........................70 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 AFOLs....................................................................80

From the Editor: Ever realize that you didn’t know much on a subject? I usually have that happen on a regular basis. Because of that, I spend a lot of time looking over and reading magazines or books for information.

January 2017 Issue 43 Publisher John Morrow

Sometimes, though, the information is too new to see in either, and I have to track down certain things online or at events. Such was the case for builders who like to make game-inspired models.

Editor in Chief Joe Meno

Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow

Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Todd Kubo Ashley Glennon

LEGO Ideas Correspondent Glen Wadleigh

Contributors: Jared Burks, James Burroughs, Ben Caulkins, Troy Cefaratti, Christopher Deck, Guy Himber, Steve Houchard, Steve Jackson, Nick Jensen, Damien Kee, Paul Lee, Chris Malloy, Michael Marzilli, Ben Pitchford, Jessica Rigney, Hunter Shelburne, Kim Smith, Tommy Williamson, Nelson Yrizzary, Mattia Zamboni, and Greg Hyland. Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal: www.LUGNET.com, www.Brickshelf.com, www.peeron.com, www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com

About the Cover: Imagine Rigney’s Bank of the Prophet takes this issue’s cover. Photo by Imagine Rigney. About the Contents: A look at the scenic Samurai Code. Photo by Ben Pitchford.

I’m not a gamer myself, so I got in touch with some game players and asked them to help out with this issue. The result is an issue that goes into video game models, and also into board game models. I was very surprised at some of the things I found (like why aren’t there more Minecraft builds?), but also very impressed with the builders I found. But there are many more out there who are inspired by games or movies or something else... Hopefully one of those is you—and we are looking for you. Build on! Joe Meno, Editor P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at admin@brickjournal.com. I’m open to suggestions and comments and will do my best to reply. P.P.S... Yes, BrickJournal has a website — www.brickjournal.com! Twitter? Yep, there too — http://twitter.com/brickjournal. Facebook? Yup — http://www.facebook. com/group.php?gid=58728699914&ref=mf. Or you can scan the bottom codes with a QR reader! P.P.P.S. If you want info on a subscription, you can go to: http://twomorrows.com/ index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=78&products_id=616 or scan below! Website

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Glossary AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) NLSO (Non-LEGO Significant Other) MOC (My Own Creation) TLG (The LEGO Group) BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) LURP (Little Ugly Rock Piece) MECHA (a large armored robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside) MECH (a large piloted combat robot)

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LEGO®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. All articles, photos, and art are copyright BrickJournal Media, LLC 2017, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Subscriptions are $55 Economy US, $66 Expedited US, $87 International, or $23.70 Digital Only and can be purchased at www.twomorrows.com or payment sent to: TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. The editorial/advertising office address for BrickJournal is: BrickJournal Editor, 5610 Briar Oak Lane #510, Raleigh, NC 27612 USA or admin@brickjournal.com. First Printing. Printed in China. ISSN 1941-2347.

BrickJournal and its staff would like to thank the LDraw community for the software it makes available to the community, which we use for making all of the instructions and renderings in this magazine. We would especially like to thank Kevin Clague for his continued upgrades of the LPub tool that is a part of the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.

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People

Build Until it Hurts: Raising Imagine Rigney Article by Jessica Rigney “Tell me what you want for your birthday. Go on, say it. Or don’t say it and let me guess.” How many words does a human know by the time they approach age four? Perhaps a few hundred? Though what a child knows or does not know can be debated amongst proud parents for an eternity. Or at least for as long as the children are playing well and no one is crying.

Imagine and Jessica Rigney.

Imagine, age 6 in 2002.

Imagine with judges at the LEGO 50th Anniversary Build-off in 2005.

If my son Imagine happened to be part of a group of toddlers at a party or play group, I can guarantee that there wasn’t time for any kind of lengthy debates. He would usually be the one causing another child to cry. To be mother to a strong-willed, fast-minded boy who came out of the womb holding his head up on his own, meant that I needed to hit the ground running. The fact that he was my first, and only child, also meant that I had no idea what I was doing. He was so often bored or irritated by other children that he would push them away or bite their fingers if they interfered with his creative play. I ask Imagine, now age twenty-one, if he can remember what he was thinking when he lost his patience with other kids back then. His honest response would be difficult for the parents of those children to hear. “I don’t like you. Go away. You’re sticky. You smell. And you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Remember dear reader, we are seeing inside the mind of a child who wasn’t yet two. That he can recall what he was thinking at that age is in itself astounding. These next few sentences will probably sound familiar to parents of children who seem to come into this world from a different universe. He seemed to need very little sleep. His brain had expectations that far exceeded the abilities of his infant body. He could not eat, speak, or walk fast enough. To be content meant the visual, the kinetic, the auditory, the tactile, all needed to be entertained at the same time for extended periods. To not be content in this way would result in lengthy bouts of boisterous crying not calmed by anything other than reengagement of the mind. When I invited a friend and her toddler over for the afternoon, I stacked dozens of puzzles all around the floor. She walked in and gasped. She said I would need to put them away because her daughter would only put the pieces in her mouth and possibly choke on them. I was stunned. In my isolation of rearing my son with all the multitude of stimulating experiences I could think of to keep his brain occupied, it did not occur to me that other mothers of tenmonth-old children were not doing the same.

By the time he approached age four, I had run out of ideas for what to offer him next. Of course by then he was walking, talking and more easily making it known that he needed more—just more. How I had not made a trip down the LEGO aisle at Toys “R” US sooner is beyond me. All I know is that once I did, it changed our lives, both his and mine, forever. It was not long after that we began having that birthday conversation. “Tell me what you want for your birthday.” It was LEGO then, and for every birthday since; still to this day. What do LEGO bricks do for the active mind which both calms and excites? There are perhaps studies out there which can illustrate the cure that they became for Imagine. Here’s how he explains it: “At first it was nothing special. LEGO was like a lot of the puzzly things Mom had gotten for me before. But that it was three-dimensional, and Star Wars, was fun for me. (His first set was the Naboo Fighter 7141-1.) I do remember finding the Technic pieces interesting, how they were used to support the exterior repulsor engines. It was also very yellow. I think yellow was one of my favorite colors back then.” So where did his name come from? It was simply on my lips as I woke up from a dream I had while I was pregnant with Imagine. A story that he likes better, however, is about the evening I went into labor with him. I had spent the entire day cleaning and prepping the house, getting groceries and walking the dog. I was two weeks overdue, but still wasn’t really feeling like birth was imminent. My husband had brought home the Star Wars Trilogy on VHS that evening as a gift. After dinner I did the dishes, put the first tape in and reclined on my side on the couch. The moment the Star Wars theme began playing, my water broke. Imagine was born nine hours later.

Howl’s Moving Castle, 2009.

So what makes Imagine so special? How did he get to be such an incredible LEGO builder? What can I tell you about his life that will give you some insight into a mind which can take an idea and bring it to life in three dimensions with plastic bricks? To be quite honest, I’ve been by his side his whole life and I can’t say. I know that by the time he got going with building LEGO and playing games, he was insatiable. I wished many times that there was a way to make more money so I could get him rooms full of LEGO and games. But scarcity is sometimes a good thing. The limits I placed on his computer gaming, the limits of space and supplies for building everything he wanted to build early on, forced him to find other ways to do things. I forced him too, unknowingly. I would make him clean up his builds from time to time so I could clean the floor or sort the LEGO. We would fight over it, often. He would try in his way to make me understand that the builds were always in progress, that there was no stopping point inside his brain and so none existed amongst the parts all over the floor either. I would try to explain how a clean slate is a way to clear the mind and start fresh. We clashed in that way enough times that I started to just move things around as I cleaned so we wouldn’t have to go through the struggle our differences caused. At around age six he began playing many of the early LEGO computer games, including LEGOLand and Rock Raiders. These were a source of contention between us too. When I limited his time on the computer, he would

Big Daddy and Little Sister from BioShock, 2011.

Rapture Boiler Room from BioShock, 2011.

just take up where he left off, by building it. Here’s how Imagine tells it: “It was like playing the video game, but in real life. I had been playing LEGOLand on the computer and my mom made me stop after just half an hour. You can’t get anything accomplished in half an hour! So then I would get out my bricks and build my own rides and lay out the park on the floor of the living room. I was essentially designing, building, and running my own park. And I could sit inside it with my cat—how cool that was. It was the first video game I recreated in LEGO. It’s what I still do.” By the time he was approaching school age I knew I didn’t want to subject Imagine to formal schooling. I could see in the way that he completely immersed himself in play and building and stories, that he was working out all kinds of things in large spans of time. He wouldn’t be able to continue with that kind of immersion if he were in school. Luckily my husband supported my decision to keep him home with me. I did a bit of keeping track of what Imagine was doing and submitted all that to the school system in Maryland for a couple years. But then we moved to Hawaii when Imagine was seven, and I dropped all efforts to keep track or report anything. I let him live. We called it freeschooling. He taught himself how to read around age ten, while playing Star Wars Miniatures with his Dad and friends. Other bits of knowledge came to him in much the same way. When he needed the ability, he learned it. Exactly what he did on any given day simply depended on what interested him. To say I gave him all my time and attention, would not be true. I let him have as much time to himself as he desired. I was always close by. We did do many things together, or in the same room together. I often had music playing, or an audiobook. We spent many years listening to audiobooks in the car when out for groceries or other outings. We did all kinds of art together. We went to museums, the opera, plays, beach days, bookstores, game and comic book stores, Star Wars conventions, and of course LEGOLand and Brickworld. I bought him his first copy of BrickJournal while on our first trip to Brickworld Chicago. Rapture Water Plane and Sands from BioShock, 2011.

Rapture full view.

Imagine building Rapture.

He spent the better part of most days however, sitting on the floor in the garage where we housed most of the LEGO. Because Hawaii had good weather all year, the garage was a big build space. We opened the door and all his friends on the block would come over to build and create towns, scenes, events, and disasters. They had a monetary system based on various LEGO coins and jewels. There were jobs for different minifigs, various roles each one played in the city, and occasionally a wedding. The jobs didn’t usually last long however, as things often ended with one of the kids covering the building of employment with dozens of flame parts. Imagine enjoyed running the city, making up new rules for his friends, having challenges for them to complete and building surprise items they would find. Since he wasn’t in school, but most of his friends were, he would spend the day building something for all of them to see when they got home in the afternoon. His own designs were always the most satisfying for him. Imagine ended up carrying the spirit of this early build club on to the present day by hosting an after-school build club for neighborhood kids once a week. It’s been in session for five years now, with essentially the same kids participating.

At age nine he entered the LEGO 50th anniversary build contest. LEGO challenged entrants to build a vision of their hometown in fifty years’ time. Imagine created a microscale build of Maili Point, the mountain peak at the end of our road along the ocean, with little houses in our community all outfitted with solar panels and wind turbines. He was one of the five kids picked to go to LEGOLand in California to compete in a build-off. At age nine, he was also the youngest. Though he did not win the competition, he was happy to head back home with dozens of sets given as part of the build package. He also met some of his first AFOLs there, and had a taste of what it was like to have the public admiring his build skills. By age thirteen, he was old enough to join LEAHI, the LUG on Oahu. He was so grateful that Nelson Yrizarry allowed kids to join at age thirteen, since many of the LUGs on the mainland required builders to be at least sixteen.

Ninjago Stone Warrior, 2013.

Imagine rose to the challenge of creating an epic build for one of his first displays at the Honolulu Museum of Art. By my urging, he took on the task of building Howl’s Moving Castle from the Hayao Miyazaki animated film of the same name. It was the first and last time Imagine and I worked on a build together. That said, I must say that he did not get any of his build skills from me. It was I who learned from him, many times over. However, for Howl’s, he let me build parts of the interior room of the castle. I had been photographing a few of his original builds for about a year already and had kept a record of his work on Flickr and MOCpages. When I posted Howl’s, it was the first time he’d received thousands of hits in a single day, as well as a blog post at The Brothers Brick. He was fourteen then, and we were in the process of planning a move back to the mainland. Colorado became our home in 2010. The task of doing an inventory of all the LEGO for insurance purposes before Rapture in progress. Ninjago Hopper, 2013.

GamerLUG, 2013. Imagine sorting and building, 2013.

Bank of the Prophet from BioShock, 2014.

moving it all from Hawaii to Colorado, was daunting. However, it was perhaps not as difficult for Imagine as being away from all his brick during the eight weeks it took for our household goods to arrive from the islands to our new home. In fact, we chose our home in Colorado based on the finished basement with its own bedroom, bathroom, and plenty of room for a LEGO build studio.

Imagine’s building space for Bank of the Prophet, 2014.

At age fourteen, back on the mainland, I gave Imagine a choice as to how he wanted to round out his freeschooling years. He determined that a high school diploma could be a good thing to have, just in case. He enrolled in a high school in Maine that allowed students to create their own curriculum and coursework to fulfill the necessary credits for graduation. Imagine kept building and designing his own builds. We used many of those projects to design coursework related to engineering, math, art, architecture, public speaking, and small business practices. He satisfied required

Imagine installing Bank of the Prophet at Brickworld 2014.

credits with literature studies, gaming strategy, History, French, and other subjects which interested him. His regular appetite for learning new things served him well enough to complete his high school education in three years. In his third year, by age sixteen, he was accepting his first commissions for building custom LEGO creations for clients. So how did that happen? Knowing we were moving from Hawaii to Colorado, I looked up the LUG in Colorado and found CoWLUG. They had an age requirement of sixteen for new members. At fourteen, Imagine had already been building and displaying with LEAHI for a year. He really wanted to continue being involved in the AFOL community. Nelson from LEAHI kindly sent an e-mail to the CoWLUG founders to recommend Imagine to the group. They let him join provided I join as well and accompany him to all the events. It has been with CoWLUG that Imagine has had the chance to display at the Governor’s Mansion, Denver Comic Con, The History Colorado Center, The Longmont Museum, and CU Boulder’s Heritage Center. By also attending and displaying regularly at Brickworld Chicago, he ended up falling into the loosely organized GamerLUG, which has displayed every year in Chicago since 2013. The commissions came when people started seeing Imagine’s work online. He’s continually built what’s been an exciting challenge for him. He’s not interested in a build that he knows is going to be easy and prefers to build something that will force him to learn new skills. “It’s not like I want to do things that make everything hurt. It’s just kind of turned out that way. In fact I would prefer smaller commissions. Please,” says Imagine. Once he started building for other people, I took on the task of operating the business. I handle most of the e-mails, contracts, parts ordering, compiling instructions for custom sets, and shipping. I’ll also step in and manage larger projects if we are working with other builders. Imagine has been good

Destruction of Cloud Cuckoo Land, 2014.

Cthulhu Family Meet, 2014.

about paying me for my time. But we’re not always nice to one another. In fact, he doesn’t call me Mom. He calls me Crazy, a title I’ve worked hard to earn. However, he’s the only one who can get away with calling me crazy. The way we playfully insult one another is something we forget is commonplace for us at home. At an installation or LUG display, others will often think we’re seriously mean to one another. We like to keep people guessing. As his mother, it’s difficult to see the progression as it’s happening. There’s hardly time to stop and say, “Oh, there was this build you posted and now here’s this guy e-mailing about building this….”. There’s never enough time to sit back and think, “How did we get here?” There’s barely enough time to keep up with sorting parts anymore. We used to sit down together on the floor with a big pile on a blanket and bins all around us, start a movie, and sort until we were done. Now Imagine keeps night hours because he can focus on a build without any distractions. He’s up from about 6pm until 9am. I see him in the evening after dinner to discuss parts ordering, the timeline for projects, new requests, and to set times for photo shoots for new builds. Sometimes I’m up with him until the early hours of the morning, discussing a design or helping to pick up parts from the floor.

Imagine building Bank of the Prophet, 2014.

Ninjago Training Dojo, 2014.

Ninjago Blacksmith Shop Front, 2014.

How does a mind such as Imagine’s begin a build? I’ve watched it happen many times and still don’t know. We talk about the concept, he takes me through it with words, much like someone telling you what it’s like to play through a level in a video game. Most of the time I can see what he’s getting at. Once in awhile he’ll do a little sketch, but it’s very minimal and quick. Then I’ll ask him to come up with a list of parts that he wants to order and we’ll fine tune it together. To build, he uses a table or two in his studio, littered with bags from BrickLink orders. On the floor around him will be piles of spilled bins of LEGO that were once sorted, not to mention half-eaten bags of crackers. The number of piles and the extent of the spread depends on how large the build is going to be and how many days he’s been working. During this time he’ll bring up sections of the build as he completes it. He’ll leave it for me to find on the kitchen counter the next morning. This is my favorite part. It’s like magic. I wake knowing he’s been working all night, to find a brand new creation next to my laptop. Sometimes he’ll plant his own SigFig on the build somewhere, still working, or have it splayed out face down in front of the build with parts strewn around it. This is how I know if the build came easy, or if it was a challenge. The SigFig shows me how he felt by the time he called it a night (or morning). If you ask Imagine what his favorite build has been, he would say Rapture, from the BioShock video game. I’ve played the game too. I’ve read the book. We both have. Why Rapture? To put it simply, it was a labor of love. He built a Big Daddy first, then wanted to have the world too—the claustrophobic, underwater city filled with creepy characters and art deco details. I was as excited to see him take on the challenge as he was to build it. Having the chance to revisit Rapture and Columbia both, at the request of 2K Games this fall, was for him a culmination of all the long hours spent on each of the BioShock builds, completely for the love of the game. Imagine still spends plenty of time playing video games. He also spends a couple days a week playing Warhammer 40K at the local games store. He still

must keep his mind busy. Games are his way of continuing the creative flow endlessly. Am I proud? Of course. What do I hope for him as he continues to find a way to do what he loves? I hope he never stops playing. It’s his favorite thing—to play games. Building with LEGO is just another elaborate way of play. It’s the ultimate play, in my opinion. To bring from inside a video game, the character and setting you love, onto a table, built from thousands of bricks, each one which you touched with your own hands and placed just so—damn, if we could all find a way to play our way through the hours of a day, then perhaps we’d wonder why we take ourselves so seriously. If you ask Imagine how he got the build skills to create the things he’s churned out, he’ll tell you he taught himself. Which is true. He did follow all the LEGO instructions for every single set he’s owned and built all of them first in the way LEGO intended. Then he smashed them and used the parts for everything else. If you ask me, I have to say it was freedom. If there was one thing I continually fought for in his childhood, it was for him to have freedom. Though both my husband and I collected various degrees for our own career paths, I somehow intuited that the traditional path would not serve Imagine in the way he needed to absorb and learn. Is he gifted? I don’t know. He’s never taken any kind of assessment tests. He is uncompromising, stubborn, a perfectionist, very clever, persistent, and able to entertain and make friends despite his wry and insulting humor. Are these the qualities which constitute a success in any field? Perhaps. It also depends on how you define success. That Imagine keeps building things which excite and please both himself and the public is probably a good gauge. That he continues to love games, loves to play, and enjoys all the things that arise from that arena, is not to be taken for granted by myself, nor him. Jessica Rigney, aside from being Imagine Rigney’s mom and business manager, is a published poet. You can follow her micro poetry on Twitter @poetjess.

Arliss Lovelss’ Tarantula Contraption, 2014.

BioShock Skyhook engaged, 2014.

Some of Imagine Rigney’s original works include The Denver Public Library, Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle, BioShock’s Rapture, Columbia, Songbird and the Sky-Hook. As well as the Reaper from Mass Effect. His designs have been included in the LEGO® Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu Visual Dictionary, PlayStation Official Magazine UK and The LEGO® Architect. Awesome fans of his builds have shared his work all over the world. See more of his original LEGO® creations at http://www.flickr. com/photos/imaginebrickzone/ Have a question you want to ask him? Reach out directly at imagine.rigney@me.com

Sazabi, 2015.

Itty Bitty Songbird x2

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Nick Jensen is a LEGO builder that has become well-known for his builds of sci-fi and gaming weaponry. Ben Caulkins is a builder that gained fame for his HALO Master Chief armor and costume, which was built almost completely with LEGO parts. Both are members of GamerLUG, a group of builders that focuses on building items from video games, and good friends.

People

Nick and Ben first met at Brickworld 2010. The annual LEGO fan event becomes a central meeting point for them, and by Brickworld 2011, they are both building their iconic builds— Nick’s HALO-themed weaponry and Ben’s HALO armor. BrickJournal asked them to talk about their experiences in building.

Ben Caulkins: I remember everyone asked to hold your guns and wear my helmet. That was a good year. A good ego-rubbing year. Ben Caulkins (left) and Nick Jensen.

Gamers and Building: A Conversation Article by Nick Jensen and Ben Caulkins

Nick Jensen: Yeah, I liked wearing your helmet a lot, even though it was all sweaty and gross. I was like, “Oh my God, I get to wear LEGO. I get to be Master Chief.” Ben: I don’t go to the gym. I’m sorry. Nick: (laughs)

Ben: I like holding your guns though. That was pretty cool. But yeah, I guess that was how we first met, officially. The idea of a collaborative videogame-related display for... what was that guy’s name, Alec? Nick: Alec…

Ben: Alex Ruiz! That’s right! Alex Ruiz was the guy who organized the display (HALO themed “New Alexandria” display at Brickworld 2011) and got us together. Nick: Yeah. And he, like, bailed.

Ben: But yeah, after that we— I don’t remember who said it first— somehow, one of us told the other that we wanted to do a collaborative HALO display. I don’t remember who said it first. Nick: I think that was my idea. Like, we couldn’t get Alex back in for obvious reasons. Ben: Yeah, he disappeared off the map.

Nick: I didn’t like 2010 in that I was separated from all the HALO people, but when we did that collaborative display (New Alexandria) in 2011, all the HALO stuff that was outside the collaborative was near each other. Ben: Oh yeah, we realized there were other people who built HALO stuff, or built video game stuff actually and that we could talk to them. Nick: Yeah, it felt weird to have that spread out across Brickworld, so why don’t we just condense it? So, 2012 was when we condensed everything to one big HALO: Combat Evolved display, which had my sniper rifle and shotgun and it had your assault carrier as one of the central pieces.

Ben in his HALO suit.

Ben: You built a ship too, right? You built the little HALO: Reach Starfighter. Nick: I did.

Ben: That was your first spaceship, wasn’t it? Nick: No, but…

Nick in the HALO suit.

Ben: Wait a minute. Really? Oh, damn. We all have builds like that I guess. But yeah, Brickworld 2012 was when we did the HALO collaboration. And that was the year I won something, and that felt pretty good.

Nick: Was that award for spacecraft or mega creation?

Ben: I think it was spacecraft. And I remember that was the first time you brought your sniper rifle too, right? Nick: Right, and I destroyed it on-site right away. Ben: That’s right!

Nick: I did not want to take it home.

Ben: That was horrifying. (laughs) Why did you do such a thing? Nick: I didn’t wanna take it home…

Ben: Well, that’s become the start of a tradition now, you destroying your builds at every Brickworld. Nick: That’s true. That was the first time I did that.

Nick’s starfighter.

Ben: Now you’re just teaching young Brickworlders that it’s okay to destroy your work.

Nick: Well, you gotta move on. If I’d stuck with that, and just had that built today, I don’t think I would’ve tried to improve anything. Everyone’s like “my gosh, it’s the best build I’ve ever seen” and I’m just thinking, “I could do better,” and looking back on it, I’m just thinking it was good at the time, but you gotta move forward.

Ben: If nothing else, it definitely made for a good catharsis. Like a good climax—kind of like the opposite of breaking a bottle on a ship. It’s like the ship’s sinking and you break a bottle on it.

Part of the HALO: Combat Evolved display with Ben’s ship in the rear.

Nick: What?

Ben: It’s like the opposite of commemorating a ship’s beginning by breaking a bottle on it. It’s like dropping the boat on the ground before it dies to leave it with some dignity, and you dropping one of your guns on the floor at Brickworld, to say “we’re done.” Their conversation quickly shifts to building LEGO costumes and the growing community of LEGO gaming builders. Ben: Never again. Nick: (laughs)

Ben: Never again. It’s too hard.

Nick: What, the Master Chief suit?

Nick’s sniper rifle.

Ben: Building a LEGO costume. Nick: Oh, is it?

Ben: I see you posting those ODST helmet pics. I see you posting that helmet from 800 years ago that you started. Nick: (laughs) Oh my gosh. You remember that.

Ben: Oh I remember that. I was like, “Oh, he’s gonna do it. That looks like a more promising start than when I did it.” Then you never did it. Nick: Well, this time I feel like I know what I’m doing. I actually made a frame first.

Ben: It looks like it’s starting to form. You haven’t posted them on Flickr, have you? Nick: No.

Ben: I see those on your Snapstory.

Nick’s recently completed helmet.

Nick: Oh yeah?

Ben: It’s starting to form. It’s starting to come around. I’m excited to take a look at it. Finally, someone will build a better HALO helmet, ’cause mine is not that good.

Nick: Nah, it’s good. Ben: I was like, 15.

Nick: I feel like you set the standard for wearable costumes, that it could be done and it could be done well. And I wanted to take it a step further, like, I want it to look really, really good. Ben: Aw, thank you. Nick: (laughs)

Ben: It’s just cool that it’s gotten so much better, and better builders have become more involved in this, and are doing a better job now, and making nice quality builds, like Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) doing a bunch of HALO commissions is really cool. Nick: Also more game coverage. Like back in the day it used to be mostly HALO that people would be building. Ben: Yeah.

Nick: And now we have people building from Overwatch and Mass Effect, and Fallout. Ben: Oh yeah. It’s ubiquitous now. Oh my God, this is so cool. It’s becoming ubiquitous. Nick: Gaming culture is becoming more mainstream. Ben: More mainstream in LEGO, yeah.

Nick: Well LEGO’s also very mainstream. You see so many people with Instagram accounts of just minifig photos and sets. The idea of a video game group began to take root in 2012, and Ben and Nick turn the conversation to the group that became GamerLUG. Ben: After Brickworld 2012, I wanted to do a bunch of non-HALO builds, like Mass Effect stuff, and I was like, wait, what about a video game display? Nick: Was that 2013?

Ben: Yeah, that was 2013, I think.

Nick: By then I had the Call of Duty ray gun, I believe, and I was starting to build from Titanfall, and I was thinking the same thing. I was trying to go away from HALO and expand my horizons a little bit.

Ben: I guess I talked to you or you talked to me, and we both decided we wanted to do a gamer display. Did we call it GamerLUG at first, or did we just call it a video game display? Nick’s helmet was constructed around his head shape, built start to finish in ten days, weighs four pounds, and is not glued. In HALO lore, ODSTs are Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, part of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marine Corps, and they are essentially paratroopers, but dropped into battle from low orbit in one man pods. The frame of the helmet is made from a network of Mixel ball joints that allow for a stiff but adjustable joint that can be moved to whatever angle needed.

Nick: Yeah, the previous year was the HALO: Combat Evolved display and we just made a name kind of like that but for all gaming, so we just called it a gaming display. Ben: Yeah, I don’t think we called it a LUG at that point, but it was the idea of putting out a display at Brickworld of just video game stuff. Nick: And then I think it was Simon Liu who came up with the name GamerLUG.

Ben: Was it late 2012 when Simon (Si-MOCs on Flickr) was on board with the video game display? Nick: I think so.

Ben: ’Cause he was very involved from the start.

Nick: I think we can call him the main guy who now runs GamerLUG.

Ben: Simon is like a workhorse, and we’re just the idea

guys. That guy does so much stuff, it’s unbelievable how involved he is.

The conversation continues, talking about the video game layout at Brickworld 2013. Nick: We had the display, and we just decided to plop anything game-related onto it. We had Chris Malloy’s Minecraft diorama.

Ben: Oh yeah, that’s right. I totally forgot about that. That was awesome! Nick: Your Mass Effect Normandy. Someone made a Steve head from Minecraft. Ben: I remember that part too. And they had the little pickaxe.

Super Smash Brothers!

Nick: And there was a Team Fortress 2 level. Ben: There was a half-done Fallout display.

Nick: Dan Church, Casey McCoy, and I made a Super Smash Brothers layout. That was mostly Dan, ’cause he made the stage, but then Casey and I made the characters. That was good.

Ben: That was pretty good. Was that the year that Imagine brought the BioShock display? Nick: Uh, yes, Rapture.

Ben: That was an impressive diorama. That was a pretty impressive diorama. Ben: I remember we had the TV set up in the display so we could play video games during Brickworld.

The first photo of GamerLUG.

Nick: Yes. That was part of our signature.

Ben: That was part of our schtick. We’re playing video games because we don’t wanna interact with new people. And it worked, actually—wait, no it didn’t, people talked to us more because now people who liked video games saw that we were playing video games and they were like, “Hey, they’re just like me. I can relate to what they’re doing. They’re fans of video games.”

Nick: Exactly. Except with LEGO. “Hey, I had a bin of LEGO when was ten. I can totally relate to this, except you’re doing things I could never imagine with the LEGO pieces I had back at home” kind of thing. It’s a mix of fandoms, I think.

Ben: Yeah, it totally is a good mix of fandoms. People being very, you know, flattering and stuff, and happy to see video game stuff getting realized. Definitely appeals to a specific demographic of people at Brickworld who like video games. It’s nerd culture overlap.

Ben and his model of the Normandy.

The conversation ends here. Why? Ben hasn’t built and has entered a Dark Age... while studying video games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He has also worked briefly at Rockstar Games, and worked for a composer this past summer. Ben is now trying to involve himself in video game stuff, meeting people in the video game sphere, creating games with his friends, and writing music for video games. That’s pretty much his life now. Nick is still building and at Brickworld 2014, 2015, and 2016 has expanded GamerLUG to include many builders and many more games.

GamerLUG at Brickworld 2016.

People Gallery:

Nick Jensen Nick Jenson (Nick brick on Flickr) has been a prolific builder. Beginning with his life-size weapons from video games, he has also built other videogame-related creations. Here’s a look at only a few of the models he has built.

Star Wars- Rebel and Imperial Pistols

HALO- Battle Rifle

Overwatch- DVa’s Light Gun

Borderlines- Bandit Small Machine Gun

Overwatch- Ana Biotic’s Sniper Rifle

Call of Duty: Zombies- Ray Gun

Destiny- Suros Regime Rifle

From Borderlands 2: (from left to right): Psycho, Gaige (on Deathtrap’s shoulder), Deathtrap, Mr. Torgue, and Angel.

From Splatoon: Inkling and Squid.

From Overwatch: Junkrat.

From ReCore: Mack (left) and Joule.

Building

Overwatch’s Winston

Article by Joe Meno Photography by Paul Lee

Ever have get inspired to build a video game character? Paul Lee did when he saw one of the trailers for the game Overwatch with a gorilla named Winston. Originally, he had built a super-articulated human frame for a character, but couldn’t think of a character to build. He then decided to shorten the legs and build Winston. Paul started designing the armor and new body by beginning on the head and then working on the rest. His son Ethan helped out on the build by making the Tesla Cannon Winston is armed with. In total, it took three weeks to complete Winston for display at Bricks by the Bay, a LEGO fan event in the San Francisco area. As for the game, neither Paul or Ethan have played. As Paul explained to BrickJournal about Winston, “We just really liked the look of him. A super-intelligent, armored gorilla with weapons! What’s not to like?”

Head sections Eyes

Peeking Inside Winston’s Head Paul’s attention to detail is demonstrated in how he built Winston’s head. Designed in four sections, the head uses building up and sideways and even angled to make a mouth.

Mouth Cheek

Building

The two SHIPS on display at BrickCon 2016.

The time: About 10PM in a hot and humid North Dallas attic. The date: Early June of 2013, a couple weeks before the show. The scene: All major structural components are complete and in the middle of doing a test build to make sure she fits together as expected. Things had been going well. BrickLink orders had arrived early, resulting in an unusual surge in productivity. I was doing a test build to make sure things would go together as expected. Everything was pulled off the superstructure, then—PANIC! Unbalanced because the weight-bearing wings had been removed, she lurches off her tall base and crashes onto the floor. Her keel broken with pieces scattered across the room, despair set in. Is there time to rebuild her? Doubtful. Should I just throw in the towel? (Spoiler: It all turns out okay.)

Hello, all. My name is Steve Houchard, otherwise known as ktorrek in the community. I am an

unabashed spacer and I mainly build SHIPs (Seriously Huge Investment in Parts—usually a very large spacecraft, longer than 100 studs, which is just over 30 inches long). While I prefer to build things from my own imagination, I am best known for my Mass Effect builds, specifically the Normandy SR1 from Mass Effect 1 and the Normandy SR2 from Mass Effect 3. The scene above is forever immortalized in my construction time-lapse on flickr. I think every SHIP builder testing the boundaries of both the brick and their skill encounters something akin to it if they build long enough. Challenging builds, especially large ones, seem to attract disasters. A similar scenario played out less than two weeks later while setting her up to photograph. This remains the highest hit count shot on my flickr stream so I have to conclude that my LEGO disasters are more popular than my LEGO builds. The story of how my SR2 came into being starts in January of 2010. I’d played Mass Effect 1 for the first time and was inspired to create something. I’d just obtained my childhood

Building the Normandy Article by Steve Houchard Photography by Joe Meno

Steve Houchard.

brick over the holidays and cobbled together a very questionable SR1. If you squinted at it enough in very low light circumstances, it kind of resembled the Normandy. I mentioned offhand to the co-worker that recommended the game that I’d liked it well enough to build a questionable thing out of LEGO. He insisted on seeing pictures but was so underwhelmed that he uttered the phrase “You just can’t build the Normandy out of LEGO!” I don’t know how many people can pinpoint the end of their Dark Age, but that was mine. By mid-August I’d completed my better known SR1 and shown it at my first BrickFair. The SR1 is notable for its completely un-LEGO-like structure. Mass Effect’s design language is long shallow curves and (apparently) weird and inconvenient angles. This makes her an unenviably challenging subject. Given the curve technique I’d stumbled upon, she ended up being just over 5 feet long. Beyond that, the only real concern was where to source enough bricks. Fast forward two years and there’s a fateful decision to make.

The difference between 5 feet and 8 feet for a mostly freestanding model might not sound large, but it is. My SR1 sits with her center of gravity over a single base with a pair of supports to hold the primary nacelles at the right angle. At this scale, weight isn’t a primary issue so very few structural reinforcements were required. At 1.5x scale using the best reference I had available, there was no possibility of building the SR2 on the same plan while keeping all the details and the wonderful curve on the fuselage—she would be far too heavy. If there’s any magic in this build (and I’m not saying there is), it’s in the fuselage. A fairly solid keel of stacked long Technic bricks and plates runs its length with studs up. Every other brick joint or so there’s a studs-out construction involving half pins, bricks, and a large plate bolting the whole thing together. This provides a robust connection point to attach things to. The keel itself is split into two parts for transportation with the seam just over the base and bolts together with Technic pins (32054 on BrickLink).

Normandy SR1.

A rendering of Normandy SR1.

A rendering of Normandy SR2.

Some room modules.

Steve’s Normandy SR2 being set up. The body is a frame that is clad in plates.

Along each lateral line and the dorsal line there’s another set of Technic bricks connected to each other with 1x2 plates with horizontal clips (63868) on one side and 2x1 plates with bars (48336) on the other. These curve as required by the model and are held in place with straight liftarms attached to the studsout constructions on the keel. I don’t have any science to help me place the liftarms—I find the correct orientation for the Technic bricks first and then find attachment points that work. The fuselage skin itself isn’t especially complicated. It’s subdivided per lateral line segment lengthwise and again longitudinally into a series of square or squarish chunks. Each chunk is a single-stud-wide stack of plates and bricks with a panel on top (4865 and 30413). The panel leans into the next chunk at a particular angle with studs down to hide the seam and to provide the angle between those chunks. This gives an approximation of a gradual curve showing the sides of bricks on the outside. Choosing the configuration of each chunk requires a lot of trial and error to get the right angle. Things also get interesting when things get tight like near the bow of the fuselage. In these cases I often use horizontal hinges (3937 and 3938) to maintain angles. Each segment of the dorsal line has a chunk affixed to the top, ending with panels with studs-out in both directions. This is done with a set of thick ring lanterns (4081b) attached to a set of headlights (4070) attached to 1x2 jumpers (3794) finally attached to the Technic bricks. This construction is sketchy at best, but since it doesn’t have to hold any weight, is fine for this application. Two additional sets of chunks on both sides attach with 1x1 horizontal clips to 2x1 plates with bars on either end. The 2x1 plates with bars are affixed below the dorsal line’s Technic rails. Similar constructions are used to affix chunks to the lateral lines. These are sometimes buttressed by other brick constructions from below so that force applied above to clip each chunk in doesn’t break anything.

There are a few other details worth noting. The docking clamps at the bow end of each engine nacelle are square on the top and slightly angled on the bottom. This was done with a combination of clips and bars on both ends. A similar trick is used at the bottom end of each smaller nacelle. These are also 3 studs wide and offset from the rest of the nacelle by a half-stud. The effect is subtle and often overlooked but important for the overall shape. The hexagonal engine cowlings at the aft end of each nacelle is built with 2x1 bars attached to the top and bottom structural pieces (studs up and down with respect to the nacelle, naturally) with 2x3 flags (30350) attached to large plate constructions. A few tiles maintain the mostly studless exterior. The three pronged hand-like construction on the bottom nacelle nestles into a one-stud wide recess to give the correct angle and to avoid the stepping effect of stacked slopes. Unfortunately, the larger top nacelle has the blue stripe running right underneath where this recess would need to be, so I was forced to use stacked slopes.

A closer look at the body frame of SR2. The skin plates clip to the white bars.

The majority of markings, stripes, and other designations are brick-built. The exceptions are the name across the fuselage done in tape, the Systems Alliance insignia drawn in marker on top of packing tape, the small curve near the middle of the fuselage, and a few corners smoothed out on the fuselage which were also done in tape. Original construction was completed in around 225 hours and made for a satisfying time-lapse. Several pieces have been rebuilt, refactored, or otherwise re-engineered over the intervening three years to be more accurate, sturdier, or easier to pack and unpack, pushing the total to more like 350 hours. She’s made it to three shows since being built in 2013 and she stretches the tape at a full 96 inches. My best guesstimate for part count is between 15,000 and 18,000. The side nacelles set into the white wing by the blue pins and the wing groove.

Looking at the forward section. The Technic bricks that make up the spine are seen at the right, and the bottom is the white brick.

Building

Crafting the Original LEGO Minecraft Layout! Article by Chris Malloy Seven years ago when I discovered Minecraft, it hadn’t yet become the worldwide phenomenon it is now. It was a rudimentary game with simple, retro graphics that allowed players to move and place digital blocks, harvesting and stacking them to create fantastic structures and reshape its algorithmically generated world. It’s now the second best-selling video game of all time (second only to Tetris, which had a 25-year headstart). It’s clear that Minecraft appeals to players on a deep level, letting them fulfill the creative urge to mold their imaginations into three-dimensional form. That strikes the same chord as LEGO, a brand with a similar worldwide cult following. Indeed, Minecraft and LEGO have always seemed destined for one another.* However, in 2010 when I had the idea to combine the game with my older obsession of LEGO, the two had never been married before. A search of the usual LEGO community sites yielded no results, so in early 2011, I set about bringing my Minecraft world to the real world. Since much of Minecraft’s exploration and harvesting takes place beneath the surface in mines (hence the name), my idea was to translate a vertical slice of the world directly into LEGO. At the time, I mostly built minifigure-scale creations, so I knew the rough scale I wanted, as soon as I settled on precisely what size a block would be. In LEGO math, two studs equals five plates, so a 2x2 brick that is five plates high makes a perfect cube that looks appropriately scaled for minifigures. For structural stability, I couldn’t create the entire model out of actual brick-built cubes, so I made a measuring stick out of bricks with markers 26 every five plates. By holding the measuring stick

The completed model: “Minecraftination.” I display it on a turntable, so that viewers can see the details hidden in all four walls.

against the model, I could build the solid grey stone walls using a variety of elements for strength, but ensure that any minerals and details were precisely aligned to the grid. I incorporated most of the minerals from the game as it existed then: gold, iron, coal, diamond, lapis lazuli, obsidian, bedrock, stone, sand, and dirt. Cobblestone would have been an easy inclusion in hindsight, but gravel I left out, since sand red—the closest color to gravel’s then-texture—was prohibitively expensive. The model includes a mine with a nether portal, as well as several natural caves running deep into its bowels, all supported with an extensive lattice of interior bricks. Up top, I fit in sections of several of Minecraft’s biomes: Desert, forest, and a snowy forest, as well as some player-crafted elements like a wheat field and a small home, complete with bed, crafting table, chest, and oven. The classic minifigure is quite blocky already, so I intentionally chose to leave the minifigure as-is, as well as using regular LEGO accessories like a pickaxe. However, I opted for a brick-built design for an appropriately blocky pig, cow, and creeper. I brought the finished model to BrickCon 2011, where I was

astonished by the interest it gathered. It turns out that many LEGO fans were enthralled by the idea of mixing LEGO and Minecraft. Shortly after, fellow LEGO fans Michael Thomas and Kyle Tingey designed their own LEGO Minecraft creations, and I had the opportunity to team with them to help LEGO design the official Ideas set from the Minecraft studio’s Ideas project. We worked with veteran LEGO designer Bjarne Tveskov, who is best known for his work on Blacktron, Futuron, and Space Police. We started the design process much as I’d begun my own, with a minifigure-scale focus, but quickly realized that it would be too expensive for the $35 USD price-point LEGO wanted to target with this as-yet unknown property. The final solution was a microscale Minecraft world, and my original creation, which served as a primary inspiration, is pictured in the front of the instruction manual of 21102 Minecraft Micro World: The Forest. The set was a runaway hit, quickly selling out the initial production run. It went on to inspire a whole line of microscale Minecraft sets, and eventually a return to the original idea of minifigure-scale sets.

The wonderful world of Minecraft LEGO, with a cozy wheat farm and brick-built cows and pigs.

*A common observation is that Minecraft is the digital descendant of LEGO, so making LEGO out of Minecraft all seems a bit too meta for many people. I don’t dispute this, but I’m cheerfully at peace with the paradox.

The house is small, but has all the necessities.

The model mid-build, showing the internal structure. In the lower right the white, yellow, and black measuring stick can be seen.

A player-built mine, which includes an active nether portal. Someone let in a skeleton, though!

Watch out for the creeper skulking in the shadows. A zombie is on the loose in the caves.

Why do diamonds always hide near lava?

Building

LEGO Minecraft Gallery

Article by Joe Meno and Nelson Yrizarry Photography by James Burroughs, Nelson Yrizarry, and Troy Cefaratti

Minecraft models aren’t as easy to find as one would think, but BrickJournal found a few!

Creeper.

Steve.

Minecraft at the Brick University

James Burroughs and his wife own a brick store named the Brick University in Spring Hill, Florida. There, kids and adults can buy LEGO items and bricks and also take building classes. James is a LEGO builder, and has built a few Minecraft models for his store.

Pig.

Minecraft Mosaic by Nelson Yrizarry. Minecraft Steve and Sword by Lori Yrizarry.

LEAHI’s Minecraft Road Show Established in 2003 by AFOLs from Hawaii, LEAHI (LEGO® Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii) is the LEGO fanclub in Hawaii for adults and teens. Our goal is to engage and inspire both children and adults here in the islands by using LEGO elements as an art medium. Our works reflect the diversity and beauty of our local culture. This summer, LEAHI partnered with the Hawaii State Public Library System for a ‘Minecraft Road Show’ to promote literacy for children and fun with LEGO. Children were allowed to build their own LEGO Minecraft modules, to talk about their builds, and to work together in teams. Their creations were then assembled into larger collaborative displays that were enjoyed by everyone. Chicken by Lori Yrizarry.

Ghast by Lori Yrizarry.

Building at the library!

Troy Cefaratti has the largest Minecraft Creeper built out of LEGO bricks—it’s five feet tall and is made of about 12,500 bricks. What’s really amazing is that it took a group of ten builders only two hours to build this at a Minecraft building event at Troy’s brick store, Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom. It still stands, ready for photos with anyone who wants to pose with it!

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A really tall Creeper.

www.twomorrows.com

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LEGO fans: You Can Build It!

YOU CAN BUILD IT is a new ongoing series of instruction books on the art of LEGO® custom building, from the producers of BRICKJOURNAL magazine! Spinning off from BrickJournal’s popular “You Can Build It” column, these FULL-COLOR books are loaded with nothing but STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS by some of the top custom builders in the LEGO fan community. BOOK ONE is for beginning-to-intermediate builders, with instructions for custom creations including Miniland figures, a fire engine, a tulip, a spacefighter (below), a street vignette, plus miniscale models from “a galaxy far, far away,” and more! BOOK TWO has even more detailed projects to tackle, including advanced Miniland figures, a miniscale yellow castle, a deep sea scene, a mini USS Constitution, and more! So if you’re ready to go beyond the standard LEGO sets available in stores and move into custom building with the bricks you already own, this ongoing series will quickly take you from novice to expert builder, teaching you key building techniques along the way!

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TwoMorrows—A New Day For LEGO Fandom.

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You Can Build It MINI Model

One of the most popular “sandbox games” released is Minecraft. Many people regard the game as a digital version of LEGO creating, with provisions to build models and machines using in-game materials and objects. Many LEGO builders also play Minecraft, as evidenced by the LEGO Minecraft sets that have been produced. Originally presented as a LEGO Ideas project, it gathered the 10,000 supporter threshold for consideration in 48 hours when the game producer announced the project on their blog. The present sets make the characters and settings to a minifigure scale. I decided to upsize the Creeper to a size large enough to include a light in the head (no, they don’t light, but I thought it would look cool). The Creeper head is a square, which allows the face to be built using SNOT building. Behind that is a space to place a third-party light. With a little adjustment, a 2 x 3 light brick can be inserted.

Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Minecraft Creeper Design and Instructions by Joe Meno

Qty Color Part 2 Green 2431.dat 6 Green 3001.dat 8 Green 3003.dat 1 Green 3004.dat 2 Green 3020.dat 4 Green 3021.dat 13 Green 3023.dat 8 Green 3024.dat 4 Green 3068b.dat 2 Green 3070b.dat 2 Green 3622.dat 2 Green 3623.dat 3 Green 3710.dat 2 Green 4070.dat 4 Green 48336.dat 4 Green 60470b.dat 8 Trans Dark Blue 3024.dat

Description Tile 1 x 4 with Groove Brick 2 x 4 Brick 2 x 2 Brick 1 x 2 Plate 2 x 4 Plate 2 x 3 Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 1 Tile 2 x 2 with Groove Tile 1 x 1 with Groove Brick 1 x 3 Plate 1 x 3 Plate 1 x 4 Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight Plate 1 x 2 with Handle Type 2 Plate 1 x 2 with 2 Clips Horizontal (Thick C-Clips) Plate 1 x 1

www.brickcoaster.com

Custom Roller Coaster Tracks, Sets and Accessories

Tommy Williamson is no stranger to BrickJournal, having been featured previously for his Jack Sparrow miniland scale figure. Since then, he has gone farther into building, making some remarkable Star Trek props and other models. He’s now doing a column for BrickJournal: DIY Fan Art. Here, Tommy takes a little time out from his busy schedule at BrickNerd.com to make a model of his choosing for the magazine.

Zelda‘s Master Sword Design and Instructions by Tommy Williamson

About this issue’s model:

When editor Joe Meno revealed this issue’s theme as gaming, there was only one thing on my mind: Zelda. I’ve played every Zelda game—in fact, I’m replaying Wind Waker right now, and it’s been so long since I played, I’ve forgotten everything. It’s like getting a whole new Zelda game! Just like Link, we can all use one of these, because it’s dangerous out there. Behold the Master Sword!

Parts List

(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Qty Part Color Description 1 49668.dat Trans Yellow Plate 1 x 1 with Tooth In-line 3 30259.dat Yellow Roadsign Clip-on 2.2 x 2.667 Triangular 2 2357.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 2 Corner 1 2431.dat Light Bluish Gray Tile 1 x 4 with Groove 7 2456.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 6 4 3001.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 4 2 3002.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 3 3 3006.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 10 2 3007.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 8 2 3009.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 1 x 6 2 3010.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 1 x 4 6 3023.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 2 3 3024.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 1 3 3029.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 4 x 12 12 3037.dat Light Bluish Gray Slope Brick 45 2 x 4 8 3038.dat Light Bluish Gray Slope Brick 45 2 x 3 12 3045.dat Light Bluish Gray Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Double Convex 1 3460.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 8 1 3710.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 4 1 6636.dat Light Bluish Gray Tile 1 x 6

Qty Part Color Description 6 15573.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud, without Understud 1 22385.dat Light Bluish Gray Tile 3 x 2 with Angled End 6 87079.dat Light Bluish Gray Tile 2 x 4 with Groove 8 87087.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side 1 87580.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 2 with Groove with 1 Center Stud 3 88072.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 2 with Vertical Bar on Long Side and Short Arm 1 92593.dat Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 4 with Two Studs 2 2420.dat Blue Plate 2 x 2 Corner 1 3021.dat Blue Plate 2 x 3 2 3023.dat Blue Plate 1 x 2 3 3062b.dat Blue Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud 1 3623.dat Blue Plate 1 x 3 1 4070.dat Blue Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight 1 30367a.dat Blue Cylinder 2 x 2 with Dome Top with Blocked Stud 2 43722.dat Blue Wing 2 x 3 Right 2 43723.dat Blue Wing 2 x 3 Left 1 43898.dat Blue Dish 3 x 3 Inverted

You Can Build It MINI Model

Dagobah Swamp MINI Diorama Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck

Hello everybody! I am certainly glad to join again for another building session together with you in the current issue of BrickJournal. Herein we want to continue our mini diorama series of epic scenes from the Star Wars saga. We have already seen the desserts of Tatooine and the temples of Yavin from A New Hope as well as the forests of Endor in two scenes from The Return of the Jedi. Thus it’s really time for The Empire Strikes Back: the swamps of Dagobah! The 12x8 studs small diorama features Yoda’s hut enclosed by a large gnarltree and Luke Skywalker’s semi-sunken X-Wing starfighter. While most other dioramas of this scene feature a complete X-Wing, either sitting outside the water or in the water embedded by bricks, the X-Wing in this diorama is a specially designed half-starfighter. It is built on the base of a 1x3 inverted slope. To make it slide on the water surface

it was important to have enough weight towards the front of the model to enable a stable stand in the tipped-over-position of the slope. For the lower pair of laser cannons, shorter bars were used to give the illusion of their tips being under water. With that, our little diorama is completed and I wish you happy building! Hope to see you next time!

Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Swamp Diorama

Qty Color Part 4 Reddish-Brown 3005.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3005.dat 1 Dark-Tan 3010.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3003.dat 1 Dark-Tan 87620.dat 4 Dark-Tan 3001.dat 3 Green 3741a.dat 1 Dark-Orange 19119.dat 1 Green 2423.dat 1 Green 2417.dat 3 Trans-Green 3024.dat 3 Green 33291.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3036.dat 3 Dark-Bluish-Gray 54200.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 3040b.dat 1 Dark-Tan 3665.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 13548.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 6541.dat 45 Trans-Green 3070b.dat

Description Brick 1 x 1 Brick 1 x 1 Brick 1 x 4 Brick 2 x 2 Brick 2 x 2 Facet Brick 2 x 4 Plant Flower Stem Plant Flower Stem with Bar and 6 Stems Plant Leaves 4 x 3 Plant Leaves 6 x 5 Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 1 Round with Tabs Plate 6 x 8 Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Inverted Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Double Convex with Cant Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole Tile 1 x 1 with Groove

Sunken X-Wing

Qty Color Part Description 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 30374.dat Bar 4L Light Sabre Blade 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 87994.dat Bar 3L 1 White 3024.dat Plate 1 x 1 1 Blue 4073.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round 4 White 6019.dat Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (Open U-Clip) 1 White 3623.dat Plate 1 x 3 1 Trans-Black 54200.dat Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 1 White 4287.dat Slope Brick 33 3 x 1 Inverted 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 32123a.dat Technic Bush 1/2 Smooth with Axle Hole Reduced 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 2412b.dat Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove

You can see Christopher’s webpage by going to www.deckdesigns.de or scanning this QR code!

Swamp Diorama

Announcing

BrickJournal Building Sets!

Designed by BrickJournal’s Editor-in-Chief Joe Meno, these are the beginning of a series of custom sets inspired by the themes and builders featured in the magazine! Microscale Space Shuttle with Stand: 50 pcs. $10

Microscale Attack Helicopter: 109 pcs. $20

You can find out about these sets and upcoming sets at: www.brickjournal.com/sets

Poseable Dog: 57 pcs. $12

Building Sets

For those who want to do more than read BrickJournal!

This is not a LEGO® Product. These are reused LEGO elements that have been repackaged or altered from their original form. LEGO is a trademark of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these products. The LEGO Group is not liable for any loss injury, or damage arising from the use or misuse of these products.

Building

Minifigure Customization 101

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed! Article and Photography by Michael Marzilli and Jared K. Burks

Some of the most memorable moments in film and TV franchises occur in their associated video games. This means we are unlikely to get LEGO to create these characters and their associated pets for our collections. So as always, we have to refuse to live in the box and we must customize our worlds. With the release of the Rancor, Michael and I have been fixated on bringing to life two very specific characters in LEGO form: Specifically, Shaak Ti and her pet Battle Rancor from the video game The Force Unleashed. Yes, LEGO released a Shaak Ti figure, but nothing like the Shaak Ti found in The Force Unleashed video game. Much as Yoda and Obi-wan went native and adapted their Jedi garb to fit their environment, Shaak Ti has done much the same in the video game. Shaak Ti was exiled in the deep forest regions of Felucia and adapted more of a Tarzan/ jungle-style outfit. Using the LEGO headpiece, this design was fairly simple to recreate, yet not simple to apply, as the entire figure was covered in waterslide decals. Several aspects of the design were purposely drawn to tie the character to the LEGOverse. Specifically, the ropes that wrap around her mid-section and the bandages that wrap her legs and feet are of similar design to LEGO figures that feature ropes and bandages. These elements along with using the LEGO Shaak Ti headpiece help ground the figure in the LEGOverse. As I have recently covered designing and applying waterslide decals, this article will focus on the Rancor’s customization.

Shaak Ti’s customized look.

Creating a Battle Rancor The Rancor we get from LEGO is an excellent representation of the ghastly beast found deep in the caves of Jabba’s torture chamber in the film Return of the Jedi, but he’s not the only Rancor in the universe. We get to see several different Rancors in The Force Unleashed video game series. The game allows you to play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice through a series of adventures and battles from one end of the universe to another. One planet that the Apprentice visits is Felucia. On this planet, Rancors abound and many have been tamed by the Force-sensitive indigenous beings. Vader’s apprentice must survive through action-packed battles with these enormous monsters. In the video game series, we see at least three different types of Rancors in several different sizes, colors, and markings. For this project, we selected the Battle Rancor. This Battle Rancor was chosen specifically because Star Wars has made a licensed action figure of this Rancor and we were able to find multiple reference photos of the action figure on the Internet on which to base our project. A primary source of inspiration was found on Rebelscum.com as they always have very detailed photos of the figures/ subjects from all sides, and even close-ups of extremely detailed areas. With our reference material properly located, we can begin preparing our Rancor for its transformation.

Rancor reference material.

The first step is to get the Rancor ready for a color change, while also making sure the body lines are correct. This step also allows for the correction of minor imperfections which can occur in the ABS cast. Basically minor imperfections in casts and/or molds can lead to stray bits of plastic, or may cause two pieces of a cast to not properly align. For this project we also decided to fill in the empty void areas in the hands, arms and legs of the LEGO Bigfig/Rancor. The Rancor is an oddly-shaped figure, so it is easiest to get this stuff done with the Bigfig disassembled. Michael used a modeling clay (DAS air hardening clay) purchased at a local arts & crafts store and worked it into each of the cavities of the figure and allowed the clay to dry and harden. Once hardened the parts were ready to sand. Filling the body voids.

Michael used sandpaper to smooth out issues in both the ABS as well as the modeling clay used to fill the voids. He started with a coarse grit sandpaper on spots that need a lot of plastic or clay removed, and also used the coarse grit for evening out and aligning two matching pieces. Once happy with the results, Michael moved to a much less coarse grit to ensure that he didn’t leave any scratches in the plastic or clay that may show through the paint. It’s good to sand the entire figure when changing the color via paint as it will scuff the surface of the normally smooth ABS giving it a “key,” a slightly rougher surface for the paint to hold onto. It’s also important to ensure that you have a soft smooth edge where the clay meets the plastic. Once the pieces are painted you shouldn’t be able to tell where the plastic stops and the modeling clay starts, as the goal is to achieve a smooth transition. This can be a lengthy process; make sure you’re patient, take your time and work slowly. As with many things in life, preparation is everything—the better you prepare, the better results you obtain. Any time you paint, this is exceptionally critical. Once you are happy with the smoothness and overall lines of your Rancor, it’s a good idea to wipe it down, removing any dust or excess plastic/clay from the body before painting.

Sanding the Rancor.

Don’t miss Jared K. Burks’ two books Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! and its sequel Minifigure Customization: Why Live In The Box? (both available now at www.twomorrows.com)

As mentioned, every good paint job starts with proper preparation. The last step in preparation before painting is to mask off the areas where the arms will connect with the body as well as where the hands connect to the arms. In order to allow the full functionality and movement of these pieces, it’s best that no paint gets on them because of the tight connections and twisting joints. Michael used a form of painter’s tape to mask these areas off. Now that your Rancor is sanded, cleaned, and properly masked off, it is time for a primer coat. The primer will not only show any imperfections that you may have missed in the sanding process, but it will also make the entire figure one solid color so when the final color is applied, it will not be influenced by the different materials it is covering (note the filling clay is white and the Rancor is reddish brown; these colors would greatly affect the final color without primer). Sometimes additional sanding and/or filling is required if any issues are revealed before the painting begins; again, preparation is everything.

Priming and covering joints.

Michael started with a few light coats of Rust-Oleum Satin Eden Green for the base color (Figure 6a). Again, to make sure that even smooth layers of paint were applied, Michael kept each of the pieces separate. Once those pieces were given time to dry, Michael used an airbrush to add Testors’ Green Zinc Chromate to the Rancor (Figure 6b). He did his best to add this extra layer of green in select spots as to not make it look uniform. The extra and darker color green give the surface of the Rancor a feeling of depth and natural texture. Once happy with the amount of depth added, he gave it more time to dry (to speed this process a cardboard box and a hair drier can be used to create an impromptu drying oven where the painted part can cure much faster). The following color was a mixture of two more Testors colors: Flat Tan and Flat Brown. They were mixed until the desired color was achieved, and it was applied with an airbrush. He covered much more of the Rancor with the mixed brown, but made sure to leave plenty of both greens visible, again layering for depth (Figure 6c). Once he was happy with the overall look, he allowed it to dry and then moved on to some detail work. Armed with regular paintbrushes, Michael set to the task of adding the purple markings onto the Rancor. This is where the reference material is very critical. Michael wanted the custom creation to be instantly recognizable as the Battle Rancor from the video game, so adding the lines was integral to the success of this custom Bigfig. Using the photos, he began adding the lines, with Polyscale Acrylic German Mauve, on each section of the body. This was all done while the figure pieces were separate, allowing easier access to some of the more difficult areas to properly paint with a brush. After all the purple lines were added, he finished off the hand-painted details with Testors’ Gloss Ivory for the teeth.

6a. Base painting with rattle can...

The final step in creating this magnificent custom creation was by adding water slide decals into the eye sockets. We (Michael and I) agree that the eyes should have a uniform ...and airbrushing colors for depth. 6b.

look and decided that my decals would look much cleaner in place of hand-painted eyes. Specifically, our decision was to make the Rancor fit more in line with the LEGOverse. Therefore, the exact eye is critical and is easier to achieve with decals. With the application completed and a coat of flat clearcoat/sealant on all the body parts, these customs are ready to be put together and are done! I know that Michael had a blast painting these Rancors and I am grateful that he was willing to share his process in this article. The processes outlined in this article could be applied to any Bigfig for those wanting to alter any other LEGO element or figure. Just know that painted elements/ figures are for display much more than for play. However, proper painting, specifically leaning on good prep, will be much more hardwearing than just covering an element/ figure in paint.

Figure 6c.

Markings and teeth added.

Come back next issue for more Minifigure Customization! You can view Jared’s webpage by going to http://www.fineclonier.com/ or scanning this QR code!

Figure 8: Final details.

Building

Kill the Monsters! Steal the Bricks!

Article by Guy Himber

First revealed in 2014, The Munchkin® LEGO® Game Board (a.k.a. the “M.L.G.B.”) is a minifigure-scaled version of the popular card game’s original flat playing board. The M.L.G.B. measures about 15” x 30” in size and is as fantastic to play a game of Munchkin upon as you would imagine! Like a heavenly plastic peanut butter cup, the board combines two of my favorite things together: Playing games with friends and building with LEGO. To make the games even more amazing, the set-up features custom hand-drawn playing cards by famed comic artists; numerous creature MOCs such as the Bullrog, Beholder and the Gazebo; beautiful custom-printed LEGO tiles; specially printed dice; and amazing one-of-a-kind minifigures. Hidden throughout the board are inside jokes, artist signatures, and fun themes such as zombies, Christmas, and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu. The custom Munchkin themed accessories used throughout by the minifigure pawns were provided by CrazyBricks (www.crazybricks.com).

Originally built for fun and awesome, the giant board has become a special treat at numerous LEGO fan events and gaming stores. The game

board has made multiple appearances at AFOL events including BrickFiesta in Texas, Brickworld in Chicago, and most recently at BrickCon in Seattle. A handful of convention attendees have even gotten to enjoy a memorable game on this special MOC. Those lucky few who have gotten a chance to play on the board often get to compete with Steve Jackson Games employees (including owner and game designer Steve Jackson himself!) and fight it out for special and unique SWAG from the game design company. Past goodies have included rare and signed promotional cards, unique CrazyBricks prototypes, and a specially printed LEGO die! The game’s winner usually gets to keep a copy of whichever ‘flavor’ Munchkin game we play, although perhaps the greatest prize is the bragging rights of having adventured in the dungeons of brick. Steve Jackson is the designer of many amazing and beloved games. Besides being a world-renowned figure in the gaming community, he is also an active and prolific member of the Texas Brick Railroad (http://www.texasbrickrr.com), the local LUG of Austin, Texas. Among the games Steve has designed is one of my favorite card games, a fun-loving dungeon romp called Munchkin. Steve and I became friends due to our mutual love of gaming and LEGO which eventually led to the creation of the successful Kickstarter project called Munchkin Bricks. Now equipped with fantastic new minifigure accessories, the next logical step was to make a game board scaled to these custom pieces. This led to the creation of the game board.

Even if you haven’t played a tabletop game before, you may be aware of Munchkin in passing. The game is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and has sold thousands upon thousands of copies worldwide. But to many people outside of our geeky hobby, some explanation may be needed. Munchkin is a parody of tabletop roleplaying games, full of puns and jokes, as well as tropes and references. You take the role of a munchkin—a dungeon-diving character trying to get gold, even at the expense of the rest of their party members. We like to say, “Kick down the Door, Fight the Monster, Grab the Treasure, Reach Level 10 and Win!” That’s Munchkin boiled down to its basics. The fun part is how you go about fighting those monsters, getting levels, and messing with your friends. Many times, monsters are stronger than you are, so you have to team up with your friends to beat them. But why should they help you? You’ll need to bribe them, of course! Other times, you’ll be more than strong enough to beat a monster, walking away with the easy victory, level, and treasure, but that same supposed “friend” helps the monster! What a jerk. Those are the types of situations players are given in the game, and it usually ends hilariously. Friends helping, then backstabbing each other—that’s pretty much Munchkin in a nutshell.

A Munchkin Primer

by Hunter Shelburne

Plus, if you’re not interested in fantasy, there are tons of themes to choose from to parody your favorite genre. Into horror? Munchkin Cthulhu or Munchkin Zombies may be up your alley. More interested in galaxies far, far away? Then Star Munchkin may be the game you’re looking for. From Munchkin Fu to Munchkin Apocalypse, if you like it, we’ve probably made a fun game about it. We’ve even let some new pens tackle our games with the Munchkin Guest Artist Edition line, in honor of the 15th anniversary. Whatever your flavor, Munchkin has a wide appeal, and it’s a treat to see it come to three-dimensional life on Guy’s brick-built board. The amount of detail and theming added to each room, plus his effort to keep updating it and keep it modern, makes it an amazing living monument to Munchkin. Thanks to Guy for sharing Munchkin with the masses, and if you haven’t tried it, hopefully you know enough to try it out. Happy gaming!

Custom Cards

One of the great things about the highly customized nature of the Game Board and the nature of the Munchkin game itself is that you are encouraged to customize and create your own ever-changing experience in the game. The decks of Munchkin cards we play with are full of hand-drawn cards from a special Munchkin set called the “Sketch” edition. Literally, it is a fully playable deck of Munchkin cards (Doors and Treasures) in which all of the artwork has been purposely left blank! The Munchkin LEGO Game board includes art from guest artists Katie Cook, Mike Lucas, Lar DeSouza, Ian McGinty, Len Peralta, Phil Foglio, and most importantly, original art from Master Munchkin artist John Kovalic! Another fun aspect to Munchkin is that you can create you own cards for use during your game. You will notice the Brick theme makes multiple appearances in the cards we play with.

Deck and Discards Holder (Treasures) Removable Billboard Sign

Storage bin

“When I first saw Guy’s LEGO Munchkin board, I was blown away. Such a loving homage to the game, and all that colorful detail! And once I actually got to play on it, I was completely overtaken by its true awesomeness... It’s a dramatic visual representation of where each player is in the game. Sure, you can get that with the regular flat gameboard, but Guy’s creation is full of references to different game elements... some of them carefully crafted, some of them elegant “good use of parts” to represent Munchkin events or monsters.

Dice Holders

Whenever we bring Guy’s board out, the players get excited. It always draws a crowd, and spectators and players all have a good time, exclaiming over every newly discovered detail. But the neatest thing of all is that it keeps evolving. Guy continues to have new ideas, and there always seems to be room to add just one more. And he includes memorabilia from past games as part of the build, so the board itself has become a collection of stories about Munchkin, and about Munchkin with LEGO.

—Steve Jackson, creator of Munchkin

Deck and Discards Holder (Doors)

Not pictured: Custom shipping box with handle.

Black ABS Transport Base

Features of the Board The game board is 96 studs x 48 studs in size. Munchkin’s original Deluxe game board measures about 8.5” x 16”, so scaling it up to LEGO scale was an increase of about 200%. I did some simple calculations, did some tweaks in Photoshop and printed out a paper template to guide the creation of the game board. For ease of shipping and portability, the M.L.G.B. has been mounted on a special piece of 1/4” thick textured ABS plastic via some brick and hardware threaded standoffs. I even created a special shipping box for traveling to conventions that just barely makes it under the allowable shipping size limits. Each room on the board (which represents your progress in the game) has a particular theme. In order they are: 1) The Entry, 2) Room of Traps, 3) Hall of Heroes, 4) The Armory, 5) The Lovecraft Room, 6) Room of Potions, 7) Christmas, 8) Friendly Neighborhood Game Store, 9) Zombie Bakery and lastly, 10) The Vault (this gold-encrusted room representing the winning level). Also on display for discriminating eyes are specially printed room tiles in the official Munchkin font, convention badge bricks from wherever the board has been played, and countless other surprises. Additional details include a built-in storage bin for game pieces and six special dice holders so that each player can claim their own color. The ‘M.L.G.B.’ is an ever-evolving MOC that I am always tinkering with as I get new ideas to implement and try out upon it. Recent improvements include the addition of card sleeves to protect all the special artwork on the custom cards (creating the need to raise the Treasure and Door card holders), and the facelift of the Xmas and Cthulhu themed dungeon rooms. Of late, we have been playing with custom figs to represent each player’s special in-game pawn. Scattered throughout the board are numerous inside jokes and details, including a special appearance by Zombie Santa!

Bullrog.

Gazebo.

Future Plans: Plans are in the works for a new themed Munchkin LEGO game board. It will have a very specific theme, lighting and sound effects that will be impacted by game play. Don’t ask, it is a secret for now!

Playing the game.

The Treasure Room.

Player pieces and dice.

Steve Jackson (in blue) mulling over options.

Community

A tournament in full swing!

RoboCupJunior Australia

Article by Damien Kee

One of the many RoboCup Junior teams.

What is it?

RoboCup is a worldwide initiative that seeks to bring together robotics teams and researchers from around the world to promote sharing and collaboration of research.

The ultimate goal of RoboCup is that by the middle of the 21st century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall play (and win!) a soccer game against the (human) world champions. There are various divisions ranging from Home robotics, robot collaboration, Rescue robotics, etc. RoboCupJunior is a division of RoboCup that focuses on Primary and Secondary students, providing them a framework to learn about robotics as well as compete at various levels. This article will focus on the Australian events; however RoboCupJunior events are held all over the world. The focus of the Australian competition is primarily education based, with the vast majority of teams forming as part of either in-class curriculum activity, or a school extra-curricular group. Teams can participate on a variety of different levels, from small in-school events, regional challenges, State competitions and the National championships. At the lower levels (in-school and regional challenges) the focus is participation rather than competition as we love to see more and more students get involved. RoboCupJunior is unique in that regional organizers are given the latitude to make changes to the rules and divisions to suit the abilities of their participants. It is not uncommon for regional challenge days to start with workshop sessions to teach the kids basic techniques, followed by challenges in which they can test what they have learned. 59

What are the Divisions?

Within RoboCupJunior Australia we have 3 different divisions: Dance, Rescue and Soccer.

Dance

Dance-off!

The RoboCupJunior Dance is a fantastic integration of Science, Technology and the Arts. Participants program their robots to dance to music. Competitors are encouraged to decorate their entries and to motorize robot limb movements, to give their robots real personality. RoboCupJunior Dance can be approached in a number of ways with creative new ideas appearing every year. Some previous ideas have been robots dancing together in tightly choreographed teams, students interacting with their robots while they were dancing, students creating their own music to dance to, and students telling a story while the robots act it out to the music.

Rescue

The RoboCupJunior Rescue division seeks to emulate a real world scenario whereby a robot is programmed to navigate an unknown path, and find and ‘rescue’ a victim. Students learn about line following, maze solving algorithms, as well as solving the mechanical challenges required to locate and transport the ‘victim’ (soft drink can). The mazes used are modular and change throughout the day, ensuring the competitors are kept on their toes!

A team watches its robot on a mission.

One of the mission mazes with ‘obstacles’ (bottles) in place.

Soccer

RoboCupJunior Soccer pits teams of two robots against each other in a quick-paced game of soccer. All the action takes place on a field about the size of a table tennis table, and the division uses a special Infrared emitting ball that the robots are able to detect. Entry level divisions see the robots just chasing the ball around the field (not unlike a soccer match of five-yearolds!) and range up to our Open division where teams employ sophisticated omnidirectional drive systems and advanced programming techniques.

Multi-platform

One of the major differences of the RoboCupJunior competition is that it is open platform. Competitions like FIRST® LEGO League, VEX Robotics, WRO, BoeBall, etc., all require the use of a single robot platform. RCJ on the other hand encourages teams to try out different technologies, depending on their level of knowledge. New teams tend to start with established robotics platforms like LEGO. These are easy to obtain and have a low level of knowledge required to get started. Teams will often spend a few years competing with these platforms, gaining knowledge about how they work. Quite a few of our teams, after reaching some of the limits that those platforms encounter, then move on to other more custom solutions. It is not uncommon to see Ardunio boards cobbled together with LEGO motors and 3-D printed parts.

Preparing for a soccer run.

Setting up—the soccer ball is on the left edge of the photo.

Another RoboCupJunior robot: A MINDSTORMS NXT with custom printed parts and custom wiring.

A typical RoboCupJunior robot: A MINDSTORMS NXT with custom printed parts and a set of third-party omniwheels at the rear.

Community

Mattia Zamboni and his book.

Tiny LEGO Wonders: A Discussion with Mattia Zamboni Here at BrickJournal we’ve always had a soft spot for microscale LEGO building, so when we heard that Mattia Zamboni and our friends at No Starch Press were releasing the book Tiny LEGO Wonders, we jumped at the chance to obtain a copy and chat with Zamboni about his latest work.

Article by Ashley Glennon

Some models from the book.

Tiny LEGO Wonders represents Zamboni’s solo authorship debut, yet his co-authoring experience as a vehicle guru in the LEGO Build-It Book series is evident. Whereas the subtitle of his volume is “Build 40 Surprisingly Realistic Mini-Models,” it should more accurately read, “Build 40 Surprisingly Realistic Mini VEHICLES.” Packed within the 208 pages are building instructions for trains, planes, cars, trucks, ships and spacecraft of nearly every variety. Every page is rendered in edge-to-edge color and the instructions are clear and thoughtfully planned. The list of parts needed to build

each model is provided at the start of each set of instructions along with both wire-framed and fully rendered images of each creation. Zamboni excels in his ability to create and curate models that are quite small, yet accurately capture the design language and shapes of much larger creations. Contributor Liam Bates’ lowriders have long, sleek tail fins. Zamboni’s own muscle cars have air scoops and an aggressive stance. Peer Kreuger’s and George Panteleon’s F1 cars are amazing and Robert Heim’s excavator and cement mixer contain details that mimic their real-life counterparts, right down to their logos.

Art from the book. Amazingly, these are not real models—all of these are renders!

It was a set of these tiny models, according to Zamboni, that inspired him to write this book. Jarek Ksiazcyk created a fire engine and a bucket truck (both included in the book, of course) that contained so much detail that Zamboni thought it would be cool to create a collection of similarsized models. “I am fascinated by tiny models,” said Zamboni, “because I consider it way more challenging to design a tiny but instantly recognizable model than a bigger model which allows you to include the model’s traits more easily.” And of course a great attribute of being mini means there’s a smaller parts count. A quick browse through the book implies that many of the models have fewer than 100 pieces. You might think that a book featuring mini-models would be small, but Tiny LEGO Wonders is a hefty, hardbound book, measuring in at nearly 9x11 inches. The book is divided into 10 chapters and features eye-popping dioramas between each section that feature the models you can learn to build in the pages ahead. The book opens with a fantastic construction scene and moves to a train station, an airport, car dealership, racetrack, harbor scene, moonscape and more. “These ten scenes were created by two amazing designers: Alexander Bugiel and Matteo Russolillo,” according to Zamboni, “by rendering the scenes using a very powerful

Instructions are prefaced by a render and partlist.

One of the layouts rendered for the book.

workstation (with 16 CPU cores, a huge amount of RAM and the most powerful graphics card on the market).” And these scenes contain a secret that Zamboni is sharing only with BrickJournal readers: “Tiny LEGO Wonders is full of surprises... and one of them is that… there is a character hiding in the dioramas named Seraphin. So who is Seraphin? He is a mischievous boy who always ends up in trouble. He likes to sneak around and he is pretty good at hiding. Spot him in the dioramas! Just a couple of tips: He is present in all dioramas except for one. He is always wearing his red hat, except in one scene in which it is a different color.”

Meet Seraphin. He’s not so easy to find in the book.

Whereas finding the cylinder fig “Seraphin” may be difficult, building in microscale does not have to be. Zamboni offers the following advice to builders of all skill levels wishing to try micro-scale. “Probably the best advice I can think of is to be aware, as much as possible, of all the existing LEGO parts. Building a micro- (or mini-) scale model doesn’t necessarily require less time than building a bigger one. You sometimes need to invest a lot of time in trying multiple combinations in order to get the best shape in a specific spot of your model. These models are so small that it is crucial to get the most significant traits right. If you are scaling down a bigger model, you might want to use graph paper. For tiny models, the focus should be on representing the key traits as accurately as possible, rather than making the proportions one hundred percent correct.”

Another tiny model.

Another model spread.

When Zamboni is not building, he can be found working as a researcher in the robotics lab at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland. “In the lab, we design innovative industrial robots as research projects. These are custom but flexible robots that perform multiple tasks to help automate manufacturing processes that are still manual because of low production volumes. As an engineer, I am of course interested in technology, especially mechanics and electronics (a.k.a. mechatronics). LEGO is a fantastic way to play with all of this, especially with Technic and Mindstorms. It is far from uncommon when designing a new prototype at work to first test out my ideas with LEGO bricks!” We’re thankful Zamboni created this great book of mini LEGO creations because six weeks prior to his deadline, he was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that could have cost him his life. He smashed his head on the windshield of a car that crossed his path, was battered and bruised all over and broke his femur. According to Zamboni, this turn of events required him to stay home from work while recovering, which in turn gave him time to complete the book. Tiny LEGO Wonders (ISBN: 978-1-59327-735-2) is available online and in stores now and is a wonderful book of micro-scale building instructions for ages 9 and up. The book covers a wide variety of interesting and realistic vehicles, but ironically, there’s no ice-rink diorama and no Zamboni.

A mini Osprey.

Instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Community

Marc at work.

Brickfilmer Spotlight:

Marc barely had enough white LEGO bricks for making snow outside, with one of the shots requiring his entire collection of white elements. Because of this, he now owns a lot more of every color.

(Monsieur Caron)

Marc began brickfilming while working part-time as a substitute teacher (teaching is his trade). One of his connections with the teacher’s union contacted him and asked if he could do a few videos for the them. Marc created a total of three brickfilms for them. The funds from the films allowed him to expand his LEGO resources and new professional stop-motion software for his computer.

Marc André Caron Article by Kim Smith (thefourmonkeys) Marc André Caron is a professional Canadian brickfilmer residing near Montreal, Quebec. He has been animating bricks for six years, and started his YouTube channel MonsieurCaron in June of 2011. The channel currently has over 35,000 subscribers and over 28 million views. Many of his brickfilms have over 1 million views, with the very popular LEGO Simpsons Couch Gag and LEGO Ghostbusters Movie having over 6 million views each. Inspirations and Beginnings Marc André’s inspiration to make stop-motion films was Patrick Boivin, the French Canadian live-action and stopmotion artist that created the absolutely incredible official Cars 2 trailer in LEGO in 2011, along with many other famous viral internet videos. Marc’s initial stop-motion attempts were made with Transformers toys which weren’t as successful as planned, so he tried using Bionicle figures instead. Bionicle awakened him from what he considered his “dark ages,” which prompted him to go to the store and buy LEGO sets for making brickfims. One of his first minifigure brickfilms was a video he made to challenge himself and create something for his friends. One of the 66 Christmas-oriented challenges of the film was making snowscapes.

One of the commissioned videos included the use of David Pagano’s (of Paganomation) puppet brickfilming technique, which Marc requested David’s permission to use. That particular brickfilm was a parody and homage to a popular French Canadian TV show, which later contacted him and presented some of his videos on television. Marc attended the show and was thanked by the hosts on the air. When he returned to the classroom afterward, he was dubbed “The LEGO Teacher” by his students. His reward to the students if they got through all their school tasks? Watching brickfilms. In 2012, The LEGO Group offered three North American LUGs the opportunity of displaying a complete collection of the LEGO DINO-themed sites in an innovative way. Marc and his LUG group (Québec LEGO Users Group) were selected and created an incredible display along with a stop-motion movie called “JuraBrick Park - LEGO® DINO Stop-Motion” which currently has over 4 million views on YouTube. Also in 2012, Marc made a couple of brickfilms for The Brick Show. Both of these really fun films have been seen by

over 1 million viewers and can be found on The Brick Show YouTube channel. Over the last several years he has collaborated with ArtiFex Creation to make Rise of Nindroids series which has a combined YouTube view count in the millions. Marc also did some of the stop-motion work that was in The LEGO Brickumentary, including some of the credits and some stopmotion which is at the end of the film. In 2015, Marc did a commission piece for LaPresse+ which was published on June 6th on their app, the same weekend as The Grand Prix of Montreal. Most recently, he released LEGO Ghostbusters in 2 Minutes which has reached over 1 million views. An invitation to a panel at the Buffer Festival in Canada inspired Marc to ramp up his brickfilming activities to grow his YouTube channel. Now, he is releasing several monthly brickfilms and LEGO related videos on both his English and French YouTube Channels to achieve this goal.

Marc and his sig-fig.

Filming the Brick Marc’s brickfilming studio is set up in the basement of his house, which he considers his very own “Bat Cave.” He currently uses a Canon T3 DSLR camera for shooting stop-motion with Dragon Frame software on a Macbook Pro. Editing and special effects are created using the Adobe Creative Cloud software on his iMac computer. Lighting on most of his brickfilms is done with 3 big fluorescent soft boxes bought on eBay. The lights really help with working on big sets and backgrounds, which he enjoys working with. Marc loves minifigure scale because a whole world can be built on a table. His animation table is the old table his parents had when he was a child. He says every scratch on that table has a story, remembering his mother adjusting the length of his pants while he stood on that very same table.

The most important part of brickfilming is the point of view.

Voiceovers are done with a Zoom H1 recorder when needed. Marc loves the Manfrotto Magic Arm camera support system that he discovered while attending a stop-motion creative club in Montreal. Being 6’3” tall, Marc’s long legs are prone to accidentally bump the tripod, which can ruin a stop-motion shot. Some other random items he likes to use for making brickfilms are sticky tack, Q-Tips, and a brick separator (great for turning minifig hands). During brickfilming, Marc likes to listen to audiobooks and music. Marc usually shoots 15fps (frames per second), shooting 5-10 seconds in an hour, but that’s only after taking a very long time to set up the shot and get everything just right, which can take hours, and sometimes days if one includes building the sets.

Marc’s sig fig with Marty McFly’s 4x4, built by Olivier Laporte.

Marc says his “creative process is not having one.” He plans things out, but he likes to be creative in the moment and change things as he goes. He says 40 percent of the time is spent building and planning, 40 percent is shooting, and 20 percent is post-production and uploading. For Marc, the LEGO City collection is great for brickfilming. He also has all of LEGO Collectible Series Minifigures which include a collection of around 20 Roman soldiers. He dreams of one day fighting a T-Rex or something similar in one of his brickfilms. A frame from Marc’s LEGO Simpsons Couch Gag.

One of the animated puppets for a brickfilm.

His favorite LEGO sets are the Creator series. The first set he bought was the log cabin. To expand the original cabin, he bought eight sets! His process of adding LEGO parts to his inventory is buying a new set and making time to build it (from the instructions) and play with it with his kids. He then takes the particular piece or a mining he needs for brickfilming and tosses the rest of the set (unbuilt) into a box. When the box is full, his asks his wife or mother in-law to sort them. According to Marc, they find it relaxing to sort the parts. Elements are sorted in boxes by color, by brick, and by type. Having the sorting done by his mother-in-law once had interesting results—the sorted figures came back in plastic bags that smelled like candy because she worked in a candy store. Sharing and Inspiring In his spare time, when he is not brickfilming, Marc shares his knowledge by teaching LEGO stop-motion workshops at local libraries for kids. Marc is very dedicated and passionate about his craft, which he happily shares with others. His biggest achievement for the brickfilming community was organizing CinéBrique, Canada’s first brickfilm festival. CinéBrique is now in its third year. His #1 fans are his kids. They love seeing each day’s progress of a brickfilm. Marc’s son was so proud of his dad he chose to do a presentation of his videos at school. There’s no doubt that even more fans were created there.

The Sedgewick Hotel set-up for his Ghostbusters in 2 Minutes film.

MINDSTORMS-controlled camera movement, using an EV3.

Another camera set-up, this time for Hill Valley. Note the DUPLO bricks supporting the camera rig.

A frame from JuraBrick Park - LEGO® Dino Stop Motion, the film made by Marc with QuéLUG.

Marc André Caron’s Filmography 2016 NEW LEGO Ghostbusters Who They Gonna Call?

Space Worms - A LEGO Movie Done in 24 Hours for THAC XIII LEGO Ghostbusters in 2 Minutes

2015

MonsierCaron’s BrickFilms Channel Back to the Future Part II in LEGO

Walking Dead Daryl Dixon in LEGO

Ninjago: Rise of the Nindroid Episode 4: Missing Brother Ninjago: Rise of the Nindroid Episode 5: Black Ice

2014

Ad for Laser Jeux

The LEGO Ghostbusters Movie

The Lego Simpsons Movie Couch Gag that FOX Should have Used

Tout le bloc en parle

2012 JuraBrick Park - LEGO DINO stopmotion

The Zombies - LEGO Monster Fighters brickfilm from Monsieur Caron How to Make a Monster

LEGO Movie Blue Moon Station Mad Science Fair

I am Santa Claus - V2 Waiting for Santa The Werewolf

LEGO Movie Pink in Space Galactic Encounter

Mini-Mini Movie Lego City

2013

Luthor’s Big Fall

Magnetic Iron Man - A LEGO Brickfilm by Monsieur Caron

2011

Ninjago: Rise of the Nindroid Episode 1: A New Enemy

Ninjago: Rise of the Nindroid Episode 2: Trouble with a Mech Ninjago: Rise of the Nindroid Episode 3: Losing a Friend Green Power Ninja

Santa’s Ride Got a Problem Snow What?? Team Norac

Building

Building the Samurai Code

Article by Joe Meno Photography by Ben Pitchford

en Pitchford lives in Wisconsin as a regional supervisor at an apartment management company. For him, LEGO building is a means for him to unwind. He began building as a child and outgrew it at a young age. Ben returned to building around 4 years ago when his oldest child was 2 years old and starting to build. City layouts were the first builds Ben did, but he is a Castle and Pirate fan. This led him to building large dioramas.

A look at the side of the layout, with a rope bridge and island.

ince his son is a big Ninjago fan, they initially wanted to build a Ninjago city in the mountains. This eventually changed to become an ancient Samurai village in feudal Japan. Building large-scale models is a focus of Ben’s as the finished display becomes more interesting when he can pack in many details. Being a Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt (derived from Japan originally) and admiring the samurai spirit or bushido because of his experience/training, Ben also admired the Japanese culture and their unique style of architecture on ancient shrines and dojos. He knew that he was working on what would become a LEGO Ideas project. The project is more of a display piece for older fans which can be customized into a shrine or dojo but still has play features, including a detachable roof. With the cherry blossom tree decorative lanterns, 3 minifigures and a horse, the project has around 896 pieces. Ben has built several mountain dioramas for his son’s train collection to pass through. During building these models, he found several hundred LURP and BURP mountain pieces which he uses to support the 4-foot high peaks. It took him over 150 hours spread out over 9 months to complete this layout.

A LED-lit volcano rises above the water.

he biggest challenge Ben faced was building the mountain strong enough to travel with. He did this by making the diorama in 11 modular pieces that could fit into a minivan. The interiors of the mountains are hollow, yet solid enough for transport. Another challenge was lining up the waterfalls with hidden LED lighting. The waterfalls were created by making 6 different mini-build designs using 1x2 and 1x1 plates and blending them together seamlessly. The result is an illusion of mist from the plates. Ben’s proud of how the volcano, waterfalls, and mountain peaks turned out, but his favorite part of the model would be the various architectural buildings which he spent some time recreating in LEGO bricks. The models are packed with details inside and out.

A closer look at the temple and grounds.

An overall view of the layout.

Some views of the waterfalls on the layout.

or the future, Ben is recycling the parts from the Samurai Code to build another large-scale MOC, most likely a Robin Hood display with Nottingham Castle and village with Sherwood Forest. For him, the teardown process is tedious work but the only way to keep building! Other plans include using more Technic pieces and Power Functions in his builds. For now, though, take a look at the Samurai Code! If you want to see the LEGO Ideas set that is part of this layout, you can go here: https://ideas. lego.com/projects/142449 or scan the QR code to the left! A view of the scale of the mountains.

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LEGO EDUCATION! See how schools and AFOLs can build with the new WeDo, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE’s 2016 season explored (with national competitions at LEGOLand California), and robotics builders the Seshan Brothers take LEGO MINDSTORMS to the next level! Plus: Minifigure customizing from JARED K. BURKS’, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, & more!

OUT OF THIS WORLD LEGO! Spacethemed LEGO creations of LIA CHAN, 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Orion space plane by NICK DEAN, and Pre-Classic Space builder CHRIS GIDDENS! Plus: Orbit the LEGO community with JARED K. BURKS’ minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

LEGO MECHA! How to build giant robots and mechs with builders BENJAMIN CHEH MING HANN and KELVIN LOW, and SETH HIGGINS shows us his amazing transforming LEGO robots! And even cyborgs love Minifig Customization by JARED K. BURKS, step-by-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, DIY Fan Art by BrickNerd TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons, and more!

LEGO DINOSAURS! Builder WILLIAM PUGH discusses building prehistoric creatures, a LEGO Jurassic World by DIEGO MAXIMINO PRIETO ALVAREZ, and dino bones by MATT SAILORS! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, stepby-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, DIY Fan Art by BrickNerd TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons, and more!

LEGO COOL CARS AND HOT RODS! LEGO car builders STEPHAN SANDER, JORDANIAN FIRAS ABU-JABER, and ANDREA LATTANZIO! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd Pop Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

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STAR WARS! Amazing custom ships by ERIC DRUON, incredible galactic layouts by builder AC PIN, a look at the many droid creations built by LEGO fans—truly, the LEGO Force has awakened! Plus JARED K. BURKS on minifigure customizing, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

MICROSCALE BUILDING! With JUSTIN McMILLAN’s micro house and other buildings, a look at the MICROSCALE Standard by TwinLUG, and featuring some of the best microscopic LEGO work from around the world, plus JARED K. BURKS’ minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

HISTORY IN LEGO BRICKS! LEGO pro RYAN McNAUGHT on his LEGO Pompeii and other projects, military builder DAN SISKIND on his BrickMania creations, and LASSE VESTERGARD about his historical building, JARED K. BURKS on minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

TOMMY WILLIAMSON on the making of his YouTube sensation BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, BRANDON GRIFFITH’S COMICBRICKS PROJECT recreates iconic comic book covers out of LEGO, JARED BURKS and his custom Agents of SHIELD minifigs, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

LEGO ROBOTS! A talk with MINDSTORMS EV3 builders MARC-ANDRE BAZERGUI and ANDY MILLUZZI, designer LEE MAGPILI, CHRIS GIDDENS with his amazing robot sculptures, plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, other looks at MINDSTORMS building, and more!

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LEGO ARTISTRY with builder/photographer CHRIS McVEIGH; mosaic builders BRIAN KORTE, DAVE WARE and DAVE SHADDIX; and sculptors SEAN KENNEY (about his nature models) and ED DIMENT (about a full-size bus stop built with LEGO bricks)! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, MINDSTORMS building, and more!

Building LEGO bricks WITH character, with IAIN HEATH and TOMMY WILLIAMSON, Manga-inspired creations of MIKE DUNG, sculptures by Taiwanese Brick Artist YO YO CHEN, Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS building, and more!

LEGO ARCHITECTURE with JONATHAN LOPES, a microscale model of Copenhagen by ULRIK HANSEN, and a look at the LEGO MUSEUM being constructed in Denmark! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS building with DAMIEN KEE, and more!

TECHNIC hot rod builder PAUL BORATKO and editor JOE MENO diagram instructions on adding functions to your models, shoptalk with LEGO TECHNIC designers, and more surprises to keep your creations moving at top speed! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, and more!

Learn what went into the making of The LEGO Movie and other brickfilms with moviemaker DAVID PAGANO, chat with brickfilmers The Brotherhood Workshop, sit in on a talk with the makers of LEGO: A Brickumentary, a look at MINDSTORMS building, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, & more!

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LEGO PLANE BUILDING! Top builder RALPH SAVELSBERG takes off with his custom LEGO fighter models, there’s a squadron of articles on Sky-Fi planes by FRADEL GONZALES and COLE MARTIN, find instructions to build a Sky-Fi plane, plus our regular feature on minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, other step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

LEGO CAR BUILDING! Guest editors LINO MARTINS and NATHAN PROUDLOVE of LUGNuts share secrets behind their LEGO car creations, and present TECHNIC SUPERCAR MODELS by PAUL BORATKO III and other top builders! Plus custom instructions by TIM GOULD and CHRISTOPHER DECK, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” section, and more!

LEGO SUPERHEROES! Behind-the-scenes of the DC and Marvel Comics sets, plus a feature on GREG HYLAND, the artist of the superhero comic books in each box! Also, other superhero work by ALEX SCHRANZ and our cover artist OLIVIER CURTO. Plus, JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customization, building tips, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

LEGO EVENTS ISSUE covering our own BRICKMAGIC FESTIVAL, BRICKWORLD, BRICKFAIR, BRICKCON, plus other events outside the US. There’s full event details, plus interviews with the winners of the BRICKMAGIC CHALLENGE competition, complete with instructions to build award winning models. Also JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customizing, building tips, and more!

Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!

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BRICKJOURNAL #12

A look at back-to-school sculptures by NATHAN SAWAYA, LEGO builder MARCOS BESSA’s creations, ANGUS MACLANE’s CubeDudes, a Nepali Diorama by JORDAN SCHWARTZ, instructions to build a school bus, MINIFIG CUSTOMIZATION by JARED K. BURKS, how a POWER MINERS model became one for ATLANTIS, building standards, and much more!

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“Racers” theme issue, with building tips on race cars by the ARVO BROTHERS, interview with LEGO RACERS designer ANDREW WOODMAN, LEGO FORMULA ONE RACING, TECHNIC SPORTS CAR building, event reports, MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION by JARED K. BURKS, MICRO BUILDING, builder spotlights, LEGO HISTORY, and more!

BrickJournal goes undersea with looks at the creation of LEGO’s new ATLANTIS SETS, plus a spotlight on a fan-created underwater theme, THE SEA MONKEYS, with builder FELIX GRECO! Also, a report on the LEGO WORLD convention in the Netherlands, BUILDER SPOTLIGHTS, INSTRUCTIONS and ways to CUSTOMIZE MINIFIGURES, LEGO HISTORY, and more!

BrickJournal looks at LEGO® DISNEY SETS, with features on the Disney LEGO sets of the past (MICKEY and MINNIE) and present (TOY STORY and PRINCE OF PERSIA)! We also present Disney models built by LEGO fans, and a look at the newest Master Build model at WALT DISNEY WORLD, plus articles and instructions on building and customization, and more!

We go to the Middle Ages, with a look at the LEGO Group’s CASTLE LINE, featuring an interview with the designer behind the first LEGO castle set, the YELLOW CASTLE. Also: we spotlight builders that have created their own large-scale version of the castle, and interview other castle builders, plus a report on BRICKWORLD in Chicago, ands still more instructions and building tips!

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GUY HIMBER takes you to the IRON BUILDER CONTEST, which showcases the top LEGO® builders in the world! Cover by LEGO magazine and comic artist PAUL LEE, amazing custom models by LINO MARTINS, TYLER CLITES, BRUCE LOWELL, COLE BLAQ and others, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, & more!

CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL with builders SEAN and STEPHANIE MAYO (known online as Siercon and Coral), other custom animal models from BrickJournal editor JOE MENO, LEGO DINOSAURS with WILL PUGH, plus more minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more!

MEDIEVAL CASTLE BUILDING! Top LEGO® Castle builders present their creations, including BOB CARNEY’s amazingly detailed model of Neuschwanstein Castle, plus others, along with articles on building and detailing castles of your own! Also: JARED BURKS on minifigure customization, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more!

LEGO TRAINS! Builder CALE LEIPHART shows how to get started building trains and train layouts, with instructions on building microscale trains by editor JOE MENO, building layouts with the members of the Pennsylvania LEGO Users Group (PennLUG), fan-built LEGO monorails minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, microscale building by CHRISTOPHER DECK, “You Can Build It”, and more!

STAR WARS issue, with custom creations from a long time ago and far, far away! JACOB CARPENTER’s Imperial Star Destroyer, MARK KELSO’s Invisible Hand, interview with SIMON MACDONALD about building Star Wars costume props with LEGO elements, history of the LEGO X-Wing, plus our regular features on minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

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LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!

Focuses on STEAMPUNK! Feature editor GUY HIMBER gives a tour with a look at his work, DAVE DeGOBBI’s, NATHAN PROUDLOVE’s, and others! There’s also a look at the history of LEGO Steampunk building, as well as instructions for a Steampunk plane by ROD GILLIES! Plus our regular columns on minifigure customization, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and much more!

Looks at the LEGO MECHA genre of building, especially in Japan! Feature editor NATHAN BRYAN spotlights mecha builders such as SAITO YOSHIKAZU, TAKAYUKI TORII, SUKYU and others! Also, a talk with BRIAN COOPER and MARK NEUMANN about their mecha creations, mecha building instructions by SAITO YOSHIKAZU, our regular columns on minifigure customization, building, event reports, and more!

Discover the world of stop-motion LEGO FILMS, with brickfilmer DAVID PAGANO and others spotlighting LEGO filmmaking, the history of the medium and its community, interviews with the makers of the films seen on the LEGO CLUB SHOW and LEGO.com, and instructions on how to film and build puppets for brick flicks! Plus how to customize minifigures, event reports, step-by-step building instructions, and more!

Special EVENT ISSUE with reports from BRICKMAGIC (the newest US LEGO fan festival, organized by BrickJournal magazine), BRICKWORLD (one of the oldest US LEGO fan events), and others! Plus: spotlight on BIONICLE Builder NORBERT LAGUBUEN, our regular column on minifigure customization, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, spotlights on builders and their work, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR mag) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $3.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

TwoMorrows. BRICKJOURNAL #7

BRICKJOURNAL #6

BRICKJOURNAL #5

BRICKJOURNAL #4

Focuses on the new LEGO ARCHITECTURE line, with a look at the new sets designed by ADAM REED TUCKER, plus interviews with other architectural builders, including SPENCER REZKALLA. Also, behind the scenes on the creation of POWER MINERS and the GRAND CAROUSEL, a LEGO BATTLESHIP over 20 feet long, reports from LEGO events worldwide, and more!

Spotlight on CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look at new ones, BRANDON GRIFFITH shows his STAR TREK MODELS, LEGO set designers discuss their work creating the SPACE POLICE with PIRATE SETS, POWER FUNCTIONS TRAIN DEVELOPMENT, the world’s TALLEST LEGO TOWER, MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, plus coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and more!

Event report on the MINDSTORMS 10th ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS, Pixar’s ANGUS MACLANE on LEGO in filmmaking, a glimpse at the LEGO Group’s past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO’S IDEA HOUSE, event reports, a look at how SEAN KENNEY’s LEGO creations ended up on NBC’S 30 ROCK television show, instructions and spotlights on builders, and more!

Interviews with LEGO BUILDERS including cover model builder ARTHUR GUGICK, event reports from BRICKFAIR and others, touring the LEGO IDEA HOUSE, plus STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and an extensive report on constructing the Chinese Olympic Village in LEGO!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR mag) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $3.95

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

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Last Word I came back to building in 1999, which makes me one of the first generation of LEGO fans that got together online. Back then, there was only a small number of sites that were on the web. In the years since, things have changed dramatically—fan events sprung up and the numbers of people who became LEGO fans grew in leaps and bounds. The LEGO Group also grew and created a brand that has become a phenomenon. With the release of The LEGO Movie, the brand became more than a toy. Amazingly enough, there’s still new things being done and built with the brick. From education to robotics to art, the LEGO brick has become something of a symbol of creativity for the masses. And BrickJournal has seen many of the things that the LEGO fan community has been through, and will continue to show the builds, the people and the places that matter to the fans. A lot has happened, but it’s nothing compared to what lies ahead! Joe

Happy 50th Anniversary, Star Trek!

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